


Hope In The Dark

by StarlightInfinity



Category: Original Work, Real Person Fiction
Genre: F/M, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-21
Updated: 2018-08-21
Packaged: 2019-06-30 10:56:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15750273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarlightInfinity/pseuds/StarlightInfinity
Summary: Carrie Melton is an ocean of trouble that she's not even sure which direction leads to the shore anymore. As home life becomes harder to bear, she wonders whether family is bond by blood or by love. When the time comes for her to choose between her blood family and her adopted family, which way will fate turn her?





	Hope In The Dark

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story that is near and dear to my heart. I wrote it about two years and decided to share it with ya'll. Please let me know what you think! Im dying for feedback here! As always, enjoy! :)

 

 “ _Even when all seems lost, there is always a way out.”_ That was the thought that Carrie kept turning over in her mind. _Even if there seems to be a way out? Even when it seems like there is no hope left?_ She often felt like there was no hope of her life getting any better. Some days felt like a never-ending nightmare. She sighed. _I’ll just keep_         _hoping that there is still a way out._

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of the bell ringing. She gathered up her books and headed out the classroom door. As she went down the hall, she looked around. She lived on a rough side of town. She didn’t have many friends for that reason. There were very few people that she knew she could hang out with and not end up in some kind of mess. 

She tapped in her locker code, thinking about her English paper. It was due on Monday and it was her favorite kind of paper. She loved writing creative short story papers. She loved every other subject, but this was the one she always looked forward to. Carrie grabbed her backpack. She would have to hurry to not get caught in a hallway traffic jam. She giggled, _School hallways at 3 o’clock are a lot like interstate highways at rush hour._ She jogged out the building and then slowed to a walk once she reached the sidewalk. She glanced at her phone. _3:03. And I have plenty of time to spare._ She was to meet up with her best friend in all of Tennessee at 5. After work anyway. She worked at a gas station for about two hours on weekdays and six on weekends. She took off running in the direction of her work. At least there was one thing that always went right in her life.

 

“Hey, Mrs. Marcy!” Carrie called across the room as she entered the door.

 Mrs. Marcy pulled her head out from under the counter. “Good Lord child! You scared me! How was your day hon’?”

“It was rough, but it was better than last Friday, so that makes it even better.” 

“That’s great! How are things at home? Are they getting any better?”

“No, it’s not. In fact, they’ve gotten worse. I am starting have a hard time believing that they are my parents, they’ve changed so much.” Carrie sighed. “I almost wish all this had never happened. But then… I never would have meet you...or Gal...or...” “Or Jay?” Mrs. Marcy finished for her with a teasing grin.

Carrie laughed. “No, I wouldn’t have meet him if I still lived all the way in Florida. Things sure would be better if we still lived there but I wouldn’t have the awesome friends that I do now. Say, when is Galena’s shift?”

“She ain’t gonna be workin here no more  honey. Her parents had her quit today.

She came by on her way home from school to tell me.”

“Why on earth would they want her to quit?” Carrie exclaimed indignantly. “She loved working here!”

“You forget that her parents are gang folk. They rather have her out with them than have her earning an honest living. This ain’t Florida hon’. She wasn’t raised like you. She has been taught a different way to live her life. Your parents raised you up honestly and wisely.”

“That still sucks. I’ll miss her a lot.”

“You mean you’ll miss pranking all the boys that came up to this station to bug her. I will say that I enjoyed watching the tape of you two the next morning, but I wouldn’t miss the mess.” Mrs. Marcy said with a teasing smile as she shot a glance in Carrie’s direction.

“Mess! What mess? If we made a mess, we cleaned it up!” Carrie shot an injured look at her motherly boss. 

“You’re right darlin. You sure are right.” Mrs. Marcy looked around. “You better hop around back and take care of those heavy boxes I left for ya. Brian didn’t take care of them on his shift and I can’t move them without hurting myself. Plus, it looks like we’ve got trouble headed this way.”

“Sure thing. Is it the roadster gang?”

“Yep, but don’t worry. I’ve handled way worse in my days.”

Carrie headed to the back room with a smile. When things were tough, everyone in town knew who to ask for help. Mrs. Marcy was the mother and protector of all the young folks in the neighborhood. She helped all of them out of scrapes, taught the girls how to be ladies, and scolded the boys for getting into trouble. _Now where were those boxes that she was talking about?_ Carrie rounded a corner to find the boxes in a pile, far from their destination. She sighed. _This might take a while. I may as well get to work._

 

 

“Carrie! Don’t ya have somewhere to be at five? It’s fifteen till right now hon’ so if you hurry, you can still make it.”

Carrie looked at the clock on the wall. “You’re right! I didn’t even realize how long

I been back here working!”

Mrs. Marcy came into the room. “Well that was more than I had asked you to do but thank you. It sure looks a lot better in here.”

“No problemo, I’ll just hop on over to the locker, grab my stuff and be on my way.” Carrie said as she headed for the door.

“You’re forgetting something aren’t you?” Mrs. Marcy called behind her.

“What are you talking about? I don’t think I did.”

“You forgot your pay and to say goodbye. You’ll be here early Saturday right?

Marissa skipped her shift because she’s sick.”

“Oh, sorry… and yes I will. What time?”

“Here’s your pay and your hug,” she said as she handed Carrie her money and gave a quick hug. “Bright and early at six o’clock.”

“I’ll be there. See ya, Momma Marcy!” Carrie called as she headed to the door. “Take care honey!”

“I will!”

 

 

Carrie took off as fast as she could. _I hope that I won’t be late. If I am, Jay will think that something’s wrong._ She grinned. _Then again, he’s probably following me anyway._  

 

Due to being the new kid two years ago, she got picked on quite a bit at that time. She was attacked by a gang looking for trouble on the way home from school and Jay stepped up. He helped her out despite the fact he got kicked out of his gang because of it. He later admitted to watching out for her before that. Two years later, he was her best friend as well as her boyfriend. Because of her family’s condition, she often ended up staying at his house. His parents helped her out as well whenever she needed a hand.

 

She slowed to a stop in front of a tall oak tree in the outskirts of town. This was where she and Jay often meet up. _Where is he though?_ She looked at her phone. _5:18._         _He should be here by now. He’s normally never late._ Carrie stood still for a moment.

She grinned. _Unless...he’s hiding somewhere._ She looked in all of the possible spots.

_Nope._ She decided to check in the tree. She looked up at the branch above her head. _Nothing. Well, maybe he is late._   “Carrie!”

She turned to see Jay running towards her.

“I’m sorry that I’m late. I got held up.” Jay said as soon as he had caught his breath.

“Not your old buddies I hope.”

“No, not them. Derik left his shift for me to clean up again, as always. But never mind that, how are you?”

“I’m tired, hungry, and not looking forward to going back home.” Carrie said with a sigh.

“Are things any better?”

“No, same as it has been for over a year now. Instead of getting better, it is getting worse every day.  I’m almost ready to give up and run. But…” Carrie trailed off with a hopeless tone.

“Hey!” Jay turned her face toward him. “Things _will_ get better. Just don’t give up just yet.” He smiled at her. “I’ve never known Carrie Melton to be the kind to give up, so I don’t think she’s going to quit just yet.”

Carrie smiled through the mist in her eyes. “Thanks for believing in me Jay.

Sometimes I think that the only thing that keeps me going is your parents, Momma

Marcy, and you. Y’all believe in me even when I don’t believe that I can do it.”

Jay grinned. “Hey, that’s what I’m here for. I’ve always looked out for you…ever since I first saw you...I wanted to keep you safe.”

“Even if it ends up hurting you?” Carrie asked. “My parents are getting worse every day. If you get too close to my house, they might hurt you!” Carrie blinked back tears. “I’ve lost too much to lose you too.” She turned away with tears falling down her face.

Jay turned her around and held her close. “Carrie...” He waited for her to calm down. “If there is ever a reason that I need to go near your house, it will only be because you are in serious trouble. Understand? I’m not going to go head long into

something I might not come out of unless it is the only option left.”

Carrie stopped crying and looked up at him. “Thank you.”

He smiled as he wiped the tears from her face. “You’re welcome. Now you better get on home. My mom’s probably wondering where the heck I am at 5 in the evening.”

Carrie laughed. “Knowing your mom, she knows exactly where you’re at.”

He laughed. “You’re probably right. See ya tonight? At my house around 9?”

“Sure, I’ll be there.” She gave him a hug. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” He hugged her tight until she was laughing and begging for mercy. “See ya later, pretty lady.” He said with a wink.

“See ya later, neighborhood watcher.”

 

 

Carrie walked through the door of her house twenty minutes later. She walked through the living room as she headed to her room.

“Where have you been?” said a loud voice that jumped out of the dark depths of the corner of the sofa.

Carrie jumped.

“Well? Where have you been all evening? You’d better answer me!”

“I’ve been at work.” Carrie said, struggling to keep her voice from quivering.

Her dad stood up. He walked until he was right in front her. Carrie tried not to gag at his reeking breath. “You couldn’t have been at work all this time. Where have you been?”

Carrie swallowed hard, trying to swallow her fear. “I meet up with someone on the way home and other than that, I’ve been at work.”

Her mother came up to them, “Who were you meeting up with?”

Carrie flinched inside. “If I tell you...you won’t get mad at me, right?”

Her dad’s face softened for a second. Then the cold mask slid down again. “We just want to know why you’re not home a lot lately.”

Carrie felt her anger and hurt rising in her throat. “Why I haven’t been home? Why? Well because I’m miserable when I am here, you two are always drunk or out or high or passed out…” She could feel all of her feelings and words long bottled up rising to the surface.

“So, who were you with on the way home?” her mom demanded.

Carrie flinched again. But she forced herself to answer. When she did answer, it was barely a whisper. “Just with a guy.”

“What! You have a boyfriend and you didn’t tell us!” her dad exploded.

“Yes, because you two haven’t acted like you cared at all about me for over a year now! He has taken care of me and his parents were there for me on the nights when you came home drunk or high and blamed me for everything that has gone wrong! That’s where I’ve been, and I wish that things would go back to the way that they were last year!” Carrie broke down sobbing and sank to the floor.

She was yanked up by the front of her shirt and was punched in the face. Carrie felt her arm break as she was throw up against the wall by the force of the punch. She screamed in pain. Her dad picked her up by the front of her shirt and yelled in her face. “You snuck behind our backs, got a boyfriend who probably dump you in a week, and on top of that you still think that this mess is all our fault! This sneaking will stop! You will not leave this house until you are ready to fix this mess that you have caused!” 

He grabbed her by the arm and dragged her down the hallway. Carrie cried out in pain and begged him to let her go. He ignored her and threw her headlong into a closet. “This is where you will stay until you will do as you are told! You hear me? You will stay here until you tell me that you will go to work and school; fix this mess and break up with that boy!”

Carrie turned toward him in agonizing pain. “I will go to school and work, but I cannot fix the mess that _you_ have caused, and I will _never_ break up with him! Because right now, he is one of the few people that loves me and cares about what happens to me. I can never do what you want me to do…Not in a thousand years would I give up that love!”

Her dad slapped her in the face. “Then you’ll be here a long time.” he growled. He slammed the door and then locked it.

 

 

Carrie let all the tears that she had held back loss. She cried in pain. She cried in anger. She cried for the family bond lost forever. She cried for the days that she had wanted to but held herself together. She cried brokenly, for her life was gone. She finally calmed down and began to be still. She listened for God’s voice. _Please help me, Father! I am hurting, broken, and lacking in hope. Please help me to bare this and to see the way out of this nightmare! Please Father!_ She prayed silently until she felt an answer. _Though you may not see it not, this is for your good. This will get better. The sorrow may inhabit the evening, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Trust me, my daughter._

Carrie sighed in relief. “I do trust you, no matter the outcome, I will trust you!” She suddenly felt as though God was as real as the pain in her heart and in her arm. She felt Him pick her up in His arms and hold her close. She soon fell asleep, as if she had gone to sleep on a bed made of clouds.

 

Carrie woke to the sound of yelling and screaming. She shivered. _Is this really my parents? Or is this just some nightmare?_ As much as she wanted to believe that it was all just a dream, she knew that it was all real. She tried to shift into a more comfortable position. “Ow!” she moaned as searing pain shot through her arm. Tears sprang into her eyes again. As the noise grew outside the closet door, she began to listen. She recoiled in horror. This all had gone to a whole new level. Her parents were now blaming each other for everything. Her mom was yelling at her dad, telling him that it was all his fault. He was yelling her, telling that she just needed to quit and fix everything. Carrie listened in horror for several minutes until she couldn’t bare it anymore. She crawled to the back of the closet and cried out to God. _Father, please help them see the light!_ She prayed silently for several minutes until she was startled by a loud noise. A loud bang ran through the house. Carrie slowly realized that the sound had been the report of a pistol. _Oh, no! Please tell that this is not happening!_ She began to cry again. _I am in here, heartbroken and hurting. My parents are fighting and one of them is possibly injured or dead. And on top of that, I’m stuck here and have no clue about what just happened. I just want out!_ She listened for several minutes but heard no a sound. She slowly began to realize that she hadn’t thought to check her phone in her pocket. She leaned against the wall and pulled out her phone. It was either dead or damaged. To her that was the last straw. _Now Jay will come to look for me and will get hurt by all this too. And I have no way to warn him!_

 

Carrie was pulled out of her thoughts by the sound of sirens. _Cops? How would they know to come here?_ She listened as she heard the car pull up and the officers close the car doors. She could hear them knocking on the door. A few minutes later, after they received no answer, she heard the front door crash. _They’re in. If I’m loud enough, they will come and let me out of here._ She moved to the closet door. With hope filling her every vein, she began banging on the closet door with her good arm as hard as she could. “Hey, I’m in here!” she yelled as loud as she could. She stopped and listened. 

They were coming down the hall. “Who are you and where are you?” demanded a gruff but kind voice. 

Carrie shivered with joy. “I’m Carrie Melton and I’m in the closet at the end of the hall that you’re standing in.” she yelled. She saw the light of a flashlight under the door.  “The lock is jammed so I’m going to have to ask you to move as far away from the door as possible.” the gruff voice informed her.

“Okay, I’ll do the best that I can.” Carrie called. She slid along the floor to the back of the closet.

“Are you clear?”

“Yes, I’m as far away as possible.” Carrie answered.

“Fire away, gentlemen! We have a young lady stuck in here.” came the sharp command.

A minute later, a chainsaw cut a hole through the deadbolt and the door flew open. Carrie blinked in the light of the bright lights. Her eyes adjusted to see a grey bearded cop kneeling down next to her. He looked at her kindly. “You have been through a lot. There are some things that we will have to tell you but for now let’s get you out to the medical crew. They’ll check you out and then we’ll find somewhere for you to stay.”

Carrie felt tears of thankfulness swell up in her eyes. Through her blurry vision, she looked at the officer with a tearful but happy smile. “Thank you, sir. You have given me hope.”

The officer looked at her a little funny and then called to one of the officers to come and help him. Together, they picked her up. She cried out in pain as the officer put his arm around her. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, obviously sorry that he had hurt her.

Carrie gasped through the wave of pain. “It’s just a broken arm,” she said breathlessly.

“Now that we know that, let’s try this a different way,” the gruff officer said. They picked her up again and carried her out into the front yard. There they sat her down on the edge of an ambulance back. “You’ll be just fine soon enough,” the officer said.

Carrie smiled. “Thank you, sir.”

He smiled back. “It not every day we find someone like you in a closet.”

Carrie was then loaded into the ambulance and was on her way to the hospital. The nurse gave her some medicine which then made her sleepy. Five minutes late, she was out. The kind nurse looked at her with tears in her eyes. “Poor child! There’s no telling what she’s been through.”

 

***    *    *    *    *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *    *    *    *    *    *     *     *    *    *    *    ***

****

Carrie woke to find herself in a white room with a cheery atmosphere. She looked down at her arm. It was wrapped in a cast and there were five signatures on the front. _George Fargo, Nurse Helen…Who are these people?_ She recognized the other three as Jay’s signature and his parents’ signatures. _Fargo..._ She remembered seeing the gruff officer’s badge with that name. And the nurse on the ambulance was named Helen. _Now where are Jay and his parents?_ She suddenly stopped. _How did they know that I was here?_ She looked around the room. She then saw Mr. Michael and Mrs. Christina passed out on the sofa in the room. _Where’s Jay?_

Her question was quickly answered by the hospital room door opening. Jay quietly walked in and closed the door behind him. He looked up and saw her. He quickly came over to her. “How are you feeling?” he asked quietly as he sat down on the bed.

She smiled. “A little drowsy but other than that, much better than I have been in a while ago. How did ya’ll get in here? I thought only family members were able to stay with people.”

Jay’s face lengthened. He looked away and then back at her. He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry… that I have to be the one to tell you this…. but….” he trailed off.

Carrie looked at with growing anxiety. “Jay, what’s wrong?”

He looked at her with a sad look in his eyes. “Carrie, we were able to come in as friends because of the fact that you’re not dangerously injured but also the fact that…I can’t say it.” He looked away.

Carrie slid her hand inside his hand where it rested on the bed. She looked at him. “Jay…whatever it is...just tell me. I can handle it.”

Jay looked back at her in the eyes. “Are you sure?” his voice showed that he wasn’t convinced.

Carrie looked him straight in the eyes. “I’m quite sure.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. He cleared his throat. “Your parents died last night.”

Carrie felt a wave of shock wash over her. She had expected that one of her parents might be injured but not both of them dead. She swallowed hard. “Do they know the cause?” she asked in a quivering voice.

“Your dad was found with a cartridge in his heart. Your mother was found with high amount of drugs in her blood as well as a high amount of meds in her system.

They were both dead ten minutes before the cops arrived.”

Carrie sat stunned. “So, my mom killed my dad and then killed herself,” she said in a ghost of a whisper.

Jay shivered at the thought. “That’s the way that things look.” He looked at her.

“Carrie...I’m so sorry.”

Carrie looked at him tears streaming down her face. “It’s not your fault. As much as I want to blame God for this, I know that He had it all planned out for a reason.”

“You’re right about that darling.”

Carrie looked up to see Jay’s father standing by the bed. He put his hand on her shoulder. “God let this happen so that you could find the truth. Without your parents

poor choices, you wouldn’t have found God, or any of us.”

Carrie smiled up at him. “You do have a point, Mr. Michael.”

“And there’s something interesting that came up,” Mrs. Christina said as she came over to the bed.

Carrie blinked in surprise. “And what’s that?”

Mr. Michael smiled. “That Jason is crazy about you and was about to make a choice could have cost him his life last night; because of how much he cares about you...”

Carrie raised her eyebrow she shot a glance at rather embarrassed Jay. “You care to explain?”

Jay grinned sheepishly. “I was about to go to your house to check on you after I had called you several times and I kept getting an answer that said ‘the number you have called has been disconnected. That’s when I started getting a little concerned. I called everyone I knew, and everyone said that you were at your house. So, when you didn’t show up, I just thought that you might be late. But by 11, and you still hadn’t shown up, then I knew something was wrong.”

“So, you were the one who called the cops?”

Jay shook his head. “No, that was the lady next door. She said that she heard screaming and yelling that was followed by a gunshot and then silence. So, she called the cops to go check it out.”

Carrie smiled. “That was one lucky call.” “Why do you say that?” Mr. Michael asked.

Carrie smiled even brighter. “That call was an answer to prayer and it saved my life. I asked God to send help and to save me, and he told me to keep hoping for a way out. As much as I will miss my parents, I am glad that I am free to be me and that my family is free of Satan’s clutches. I realize now that the reason why all this happened, is because Satan knows how dangerous I am to him. That’s why he’s tried to get me deny

my Father.” Carrie laughed. “Instead, it brought me closer to God.”

Jay smiled. “God sure works in mysterious ways.”

Carrie smiled. “He sure does. But at least I have learned one valuable lesson from this year.”

“And what’s that?” Mrs. Emma asked.

Carrie looked Jay and smiled. “Where all seems lost, there is hope. Hope will then lead you out of the darkness.”

Jay grinned. “That sounds like a good lesson. Was there anything else that you learned?”

Carrie smiled. “Only that God sent me a new family a long time ago as well as an awesome guy that I love with all my heart.”

Jay smiled. “Who’s the family?”

Carrie laughed. “You should know them really well. You do live in the same house with them. Your parents have been my parents at my heart for a while now.”

Mr. Michael and Mrs. Christina laughed. “We would consider adoption, but I think that Jay would object to that,” his dad said teasingly.

“Dad!” 

Mrs. Christina laughed. “Your dad just meant that he thought that you’d rather have Carrie as your girlfriend than as your sister.”

Carrie laughed. “I think that I might object to that idea too.”

Jay looked relieved. “Good, then things will stay the same.”

“Other than the fact that Carrie will now be living at our house,” Mrs. Emma pointed out.

“I don’t object to that. I wish that there was something that I could do to thank ya’ll for all that you have done for me.” Carrie said sadly.

Mrs. Christina put her hand on Carrie’s shoulder. “You’ve done more than you think. You’ve been a friend to Jason, which is something that few people have done. You also kept him out of trouble. We never approved of Jay being a part of the Crows, but we didn’t stop him.”

“Why not? I mean, he is your son.” Carrie asked.

Mr. Michael smiled. “He is also old enough to make his own choices. He was sixteen at the time, so it was about time to let him have some freedom of choice. If we had ever felt that the gang was not good for him, we would have put an end to it.

Though he sometimes got in trouble, it gave him friends. Or so we thought.”

Carrie put her other hand on top of Mrs. Christina’s. “I understand. Say, when am

I being discharged?”

“If you’re talking about the hospital right now,” Jay said cheerfully. “If you’re talking about from my heart, never.”

Everyone laughed. “Well then get me out of here,” Carrie exclaimed joyfully. “I’m ready for a fresh start!”

 

 

Later that night, Carrie sat down at the desk in the guest room. She pulled out her laptop and plugged it in. There was a knock on the door. “Come in!”

Jay came in to stand behind her. He put his arms around her. “What are you doing?”

Carrie looked up at him. “I’m getting ready to write my paper.”

“The SS paper that you have been talking about for weeks?” Jay said teasingly. “Yes, that one.”

“So, what are you going to write about?”

Carrie smiled. “I think you’ll like it.”

“What’s it about?”

“Never giving up, hope, believing in God, love, pain, and even death.”

“That sounds like one complicated paper.”

“Nope, just one special story.”

Jay kissed her forehead. “Then I know that I’ll love that story. I just can’t wait to see how it ends.”

Carrie smiled. “Me too.”


End file.
